Wind-driven noise-making devices



Nov. 8, 1966 A. GOULD 3,283,441

WIND-DRIVEN NOISE-MAKING DEVICES Filed Sept. 5, 1963 INVENTOR, ALB ER T GOULD,

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United States Patent 3,283,441 WIND-DRIVEN NOISE-MAKING DEVICES Albert Gould, 14 Shady Brook Road, Great Neck, N.Y. Filed Sept. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 306,855 6 Claims. (Cl. 4658) The present invention relates to toys including propellers which spin by action of the wind. Usually these toys are on sticks, but also herein they are shown on kites or adapted to be mounted on bicycle handle bars and the like. More particularly, this invention concerns itself with a noise maker which is actuated by propeller rotation, and also with the propeller per se. 1

Various attempts have been made to include a noise maker on pin wheels and propeller toys, but the noise produced was rather feeble and even at short distances away from the source, sound therefrom was not perceptible. Because of necessary limitations in the Weight and size of the entire toy, and noise-device operation being dependent on propeller movement which relies on wind and the actual Wind power available to a small propeller being rather limited, the noise producers heretofore had in this art, proved unsatisfactory for use on kites and on bicycles, because on movement of not many feet away from a listener, the noise was lost.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a novel and improved propeller toy with noise maker construction which emits a sound of considerable magnitude, though limited in weight and propeller size to be suitable for attachment to a kite.

Essentially, I have the blades of a propeller in rotation due to wind action successively trip a spring-loaded hammer against a diaphragm of a megaphone or sonndbox.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved wind-propelled noise making device of the character described, made of molded plastic parts which are easily fitted together in proper assembly for use at a minimum of labor cost and very easily dis-assembled to replace a defective part so as to minimize spoilage in manufacture.

Another object thereof is to provide a novel and improved propeller construction affording a shock absorbing action at the impacts of the blades with the spring-biased hammer, to assure smooth operation and avoid jamming.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improved wind-propelled noise maker of the type set forth which is simple in structure, reasonably cheap in cost and eflicient in carrying out the purposes for which it is designed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosure proceeds.

In the accompanying drawing which is part of this specification, similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a wind-propelled noise making toy which embodies the teachings of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a reduced front view of the FIG. 1 toy mounted in a kite.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the trip hammer included in this device.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the casing which supports the trip hammer, offers its bottom wall as a diaphragm for said hammer to knock against and which also includes a shaft for the propeller.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of said casing, including the hammer in position therein, indicating generally the propeller by dash and dot lines and showing in section the cap for maintaining the propeller on said shaft.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the lid which covers said casing and carries a blade spring element for biasing the trip hammer.

Patented Nov. 8, 1966 FIG. 7 is a central sectional view of said casing cover of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the propeller as it would appear when set face down to rest on a table.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a bracket which may be used for mounting the device of FIG. 1 on, for instance, the handle bars of a bicycle.

In the drawing, the numeral 15 designates generally a preferred embodiment of this invention, in which most of the trip hammer 16 is housed in a casing 17, whose cover 18 carries a blade spring 19 to bias said hammer, which is swingably mounted on its pintles 20, to knock against the floor wall 21 of said casing, which wall serves as a diaphragm across one end of an attached tubular member 22, acting as a sound box or megaphone to magnify the noise produced by the hammers pounding when the end of said hammer which is outside said casing is tripped successively by the blades 23, 24, 25 of the winddriven propeller denoted generally by the numeral 26, rotatably mounted on the stud shaft 27 which extends laterally from the outer Wall of said casing 17. The peripheral wall of said casing 17 has an opening through which the hammer 16 lies. Lugs 28 and 29 extend from the casing at said opening whereby the hammer 16 lies be tween them. The facing walls of said lugs have niches which are indicated respectively by the numerals 30 in which the pintles 25 set as in half bearings. Upon mounting the cover 18, is outer laterally extending tab 18' will set between the lugs 28, 29 and provide closed bearings for the pintles 20 of the hammer 16.

The hub 31 of the propeller 26 is that of a crown gear formation having one tooth of thin resilient material for each propeller blade. Here, said teeth are indicated by the numerals 33, 34, 35 from along the corresponding edges 33', 34', 35 of which there extend the blades 23, 24 and 25 respectively. When the propeller 26 is mounted, its hub 31 is free to turn on the stud 27 and is permitted extremely little longitudinal play between the stop 29' and the end cap 32. Upon rotation of the propeller, its blades will successively intercept and trip .the hammer 16, thus making the desired noise. It is the leading edge of the blade that will make this contact with the hammer right near the line of junction of the blade with the tooth. Such interception is preferably not effected by the free edge of the tooth. The line of junction of each tooth with a blade will be in a bias relation with respect to the hub axis. The resilience offered the blade at its junction line with the tooth it extends from and the resilience offered by the tooth itself avoid jamming of the hammer and the braking of the propeller and thus assure smooth working of the device.

It is to be noted that this propeller 26 is suited for other pin-wheel and wind-driven toys.

The blade spring 19 is preferably of paper-thin steel strip while the remaining parts are preferably thin-walled cast plastic parts made of polyethylene. The entire propeller 26 is an integral structure and so is the casing 17 with its supports for the hammer and the propeller. Releasable assembly can be had for instance by having the enlarged rim 18" of the cap 18 fitted into the annular groove 17" formed interiorly of the casing member 17. Similar assembly can be had for the tubular member 22 with the engageable ring 17' and for the cap 32 with the end of the stud shaft 27.

A suitable bracket as 33 integral with the casing 17 has the openings 33', 33" to admit a stick in various directions, as for instance for the stick 34 to be held in hand, or for the stick 34 of the frame of a kite 35, to permit mounting of the device 15 thereon. A clamping element as shown at 36 may be provided so that when the finger 36 is set into for instance the hole 33", the device 15 can be mounted on the handle bar of a bicycle.

This invention is capable of numerous forms and various applications without departing from the essential features herein disclosed. -It is therefore intended and desired that the embodiment shown herein shall be deemed merely illustrative and not restrictive and that the patent shall cover all patentable novelty herein set forth; reference being had to the following claims rather than to the specific description herein, to indicate the scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a wind-driven, noise-making device of the character described, the combination of a sound box with a swingably mounted elongated trip hammer biased so that its pounding end normally rests against a wall of said sound box, a rotatably wind-moved propeller presenting spaced blades around its hub; each of said blades extending radially from the hub and slanted with respect to the axis of the hub; each of said blades being resiliently swingable on said hub; the other end of said hammer extending into the path of said blades whereby on rotation of said propeller said blades will successively momentarily intercept and swing the hammer a predetermined distance from its normal rest position whereupon the hammer is freed from said blades respectively and auto matically returns to said normal rest position, striking the wall of said sound box; the sound box serving to magnify the sound produced by the pounding of said hammer against said wall of the sound box.

2. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein the hub of the propeller is a crown gear having one tooth for each blade; said teeth being of thin material having some resilient quality; said blades extending from corresponding edges of said teeth respectively.

3. In a wind-driven, noise-making device of the character described, a tubular structure having a diaphragm partition intermediate its ends; said structure having an opening in its wall to one side of said partition and two lugs, one at each side of said opening and along said structure; each of the opposed faces of said lugs having a niche extending towards the plane of said partition, an elongated trip hammer extending through said opening between said lugs whereby the pounding end of said hammer is normally against said partition and the other end of said hammer extends exteriorly of said tubular structure and beyond said lugs; said hammer having pintles extending laterally therefrom in opposite directions; each of said pintles resting swingably in one of said niches respectively, a cover member closing that end of the tubular structure in which said hammer is positioned, a spring within said structure between said cover and hammer, biasing the hammer so that its pounding end is pressed against said partition; said cover having a part thereof entered between said lugs whereby the pintles are maintained against movement out of said niches, a

stud extending laterally from said tubular structure, a

wind-moved propeller presenting spaced elements around its hub rotatably mounted on said stud whereby on rotation of said propeller said elements will successively momentarily intercept and swing the hammer a predetermined distance away from its normal rest position whereupon the hammer is .freed from said elements respectively and automatically returns by action of said spring to said normal rest position, striking said partition; that part of the tubular structure which is to the other side of said partition serving as a sound box to magnify the sound produced by the pounding of the hammer against said partition; said tubular structure being of two parts in extension of each other and said partition being integral with one of said parts; said parts being releasably attached to each other; said cover being releasably attached, and a cap at the end of said stud and releasably attached thereto whereby upon its removal from the stud, the propeller is removable from said stud.

4. In a wind-driven, noise-making device of the char- 4 acter described, a tubular structure having a partition intermediate its ends; said structure having an opening in its wall to one side of said partition and two lugs, one at each side of said opening and along said structure; each of the opposed faces of said lugs having a niche extending towards the plane of said partition, an elongated trip hammer extending through said opening between said lugs whereby the pounding end of said hammer is normally against said partition and the other, end of said hammer extends exteriorly of said tubular structure and beyond said lugs; said hammer having pintles extending laterally therefrom in opposite directions; each of said pintles resting swingably in one of said niches respectively, a cover member closing that end of the tubular structure in which said hammer is positioned, a spring within said structure between said cover and hammer, biasing said hammer so that its pounding end is pressed against said partition; said cover having a part thereof entered between said lugs whereby the pintles are maintained against movement out of said niches, a stud extending laterally [from said tubular structure and a wind-moved propeller presenting spaced elements around its hub rotatably mounted on said stud whereby on rotation 01f said propeller said elements will successively momentarily intercept and swing the hammer a predetermined distance away from its normal rest position whereupon the hammer is freed from said elements respectively and automatically returns by action of said spring to said normal rest position, striking said partition; that part of the tubular structure which is to the other side of said partition serving as a sound box to magnify the sound produced by the pounding of the hammer against said partition; the propeller comprising a plurality of blades extending radial-1y from the hub and slanted with respect to the axis of said hub;

each of said blades being resiliently swingable on said hub; said blades constituting the elements which intercept said hammer.

5. In a wind-driven, noise-making device of the character described, a tubular structure having a partition intermediate its ends; said structure having an opening in its wall to one side of said partition and two lugs, one

at each side of said opening and along said structure; each of the opposed faces of said lugs having a niche extending towards the plane of said partition, an elongated trip hammer extending through said opening between said lugs whereby the pounding end of said hammer is normally against said partition and the other end of said hammer extends exteriorly of said tubular structure and beyond said lugs; said hammer having pintles extending laterally therefrom in opposite directions; each of said pintles resting swingably in one of said niches respectively, a cover member closing that end of the tubular structure :in which said hammer is positioned, a spring within said structure between said cover and hammer, biasing said hammer so that its pounding end is pressed against said partition; said cover having a part thereof entered between said elements will successively momentarily intercept and swing the hammer a predetermined distance away from its normal rest position whereupon the hammer is freed from said elements respectively and automatically returns by action of said spring to said normal rest position, striking said partition; that part of the tubular structure which is to the other side of said partition serving as a sound box to magnify the sound produced by the pounding of the hammer against said partition; the hub of the propeller being a crown gear having one tooth for each blade; said teeth being of thin material having some resilient quality; said blades extending tfI'O'Hl corresponding edges of said teeth respectively.

6. In a wind-driven, noise-making device of the character described, a tubular structure having a partition intermediate its ends; said structure having an opening in its wall to one side of said partition and two lugs, one at each side of said opening and along said structure; each of the opposed faces of said lugs having a niche extending towards the plane of said partition, an elongated trip hammer extending through said opening between said lugs whereby the pounding end of said hammer is normally against said partition and the other end of said hammer extends exteriorly of said tubular structure and beyond said lugs; said hammer having pintles extending laterally therefrom in opposite directions; each of said pintles resting swingably in one of said niches respectively, a cover member closing that end of the tubular structure in which said hammer is positioned, a spring within said structure between said cover and hammer, biasing said hammer so that its pounding end is pressed against said partition; said cover having a part thereof entered between said lugs whereby the pintles are maintained against movement out of said niches, a stud extending laterally from said tubular structure and a wind-moved propeller presenting spaced elements around its hub rotatably mounted on said stud whereby on rotation of said propeller said elements will successively momentarily intercept and swing the hammer a predetermined distance away from its normal rest position whereupon the hammer is freed from said elements respectively and automatically returns by action of said spring to said normal rest position, striking said partition; that part of the tubular structure which is to the other side of said partition serving as a sound box to magnify the sound produced by the pounding of the hammer against said partition; said lugs extending exteriorly of the tubular structure; one of said lugs positioned to serve as a stop against which the hub of the propeller rests when the propeller is mounted on the stud.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 717,489 12/1902 Worden 46-53 943,529 12/1909 Exline 46-53 1,841,959 1/1932 Kingsbury "173 2,906,349 9/1959 Hans et a1. 170-173 3,151,866 10/1964 Glass et a1 46-247 X DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

R. F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A WIND-DRIVEN NOISE-MAKING DEVICE OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, THE COMBINATION OF A SOUND BOX WITH A SWINGABLY MOUNTED ELONGATED TRIP HAMMER BIASED SO THAT ITS POUNDING END NORMALLY RESTS AGAINST A WALL OF SAID SOUND BOX, A ROTATABLY WIND-MOVED PROPELLER PRESENTING SPACED BLADES AROUND ITS HUB; EACH OF SAID BLADES EXTENDING RADIALLY FROM THE HUB AND SLANTED WITH RESPECT TO THE AXIS OF THE HUB; EACH OF SAID BLADES BEING RESILIENTLY SWINGABLE ON SAID HUB; THE OTHER END OF SAID HAMMER EXTENDING INTO THE PATH OF THE BLADES WHEREBY ON ROTATION OF SAID PROPELLER SAID BLADES WILL SUCCESSIVELY MOMENTARILY INTERCEPT AND SWING THE HAMMER A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM ITS NORMAL REST POSITION WHEREUPON THE HAMMER IS FREED FROM SAID BLADES RESPECTIVELY AND AUTOMATICALLY RETURNS TO SAID NORMAL REST POSITION, STRIKING THE WALL OF SAID SOUND BOX; THE SOUND BOX SERVING TO MAGNIFY THE SOUND PRODUCED BY THE POUNDING OF SAID HAMMER AGAINST SAID WALL OF THE SOUND BOX. 